After 14 years as a video game journalist, Colin Moriarty has resigned from his position at Kinda Funny. Photo via Twitter.

Colin Moriarty has left the video game journalism industry after 14 years in the field as a Senior Editor of IGN, host of the most popular PlayStation podcasts, and co-founder of the most successful crowdfunded Internet community, Kinda Funny and Kinda Funny Games. His departure comes immediately after a controversial tweet that exposed a conflict of visions for the future of Kinda Funny.

Kinda Funny is an entertainment channel that receives most of its support via Patreon, a website that allows fans to offer monthly pledges to content creators in exchange for tiered rewards. The group is composed of IGN veterans Greg Miller, Moriarty, Tim Gettys, and Nick Scarpino.

The group dubbed their die-hard audience as the “Best Friends,” who have constantly strived to be a positive force on the Internet. Miller said in a statement, “When we broke away to do Kinda Funny, we wanted to build a community that celebrates the good and strives to be better than the ‘Internet commenter.’”

On March 8, International Women’s Day, Moriarty said in a tweet, “Ah. peace and quiet. #ADayWithoutAWoman.” This immediately attracted a controversial response from both the fans of Kinda Funny as well as those in the industry. Moriarty said he was not sorry, while Miller said in a tweet, “The Tweet was in poor taste,” and “I’m personally sorry to the Best Friends who felt slighted on a day meant to celebrate.”

“[Colin has] also consistently said and done controversial things for the decade I’ve known him,” Miller said, “We don’t always (or even often) agree with him, but that’s who he is.” Justin Davis, the Executive Editor of IGN Features and former co-worker of Moriarty said in response to Moriarty’s tweet, “Is this really the person you want to be?” and followed with, “Disappointed to see someone with smarts be a low-road troll.”

Many fans found the tweet to be a funny joke, while others weren’t so happy. Robert Smith, a follower of Miller and Gettys on Twitter, said in a tweet “This joke isn’t funny, and I’m sad by the replies. Are these the fans [Kinda Funny] wants?” Gettys said in response, “These are absolutely not the fans I want.”

Moriarty announced on March 13 that he would be leaving Kinda Funny. Moriarty said in a Facebook post, “It’s with a heavy heart and great sadness that I announce my resignation from Kinda Funny, effective immediately.” It was later said during the Kinda Funny Morning Show, a daily live program discussing nerd culture news, that Moriarty’s departure was the result of different visions for the company.

Miller insisted the tweet had nothing to do with Moriarty’s departure in the wake of several news outlets reporting that Moriarty’s resignation was a direct reaction to the backlash. Moriarty said in an interview with Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report on March 17 that he was not forced out of the company.

“I simply want to reconnect with what’s most important to me. Politics, history, philosophy,” Colin said in his Facebook post, “Talking about things I feel are most impactful and essential for a person like me.”

Miller said, “We’re just going in two completely opposite directions in terms of what we want to do,” and that the tweet was “a symptom, if not the most public expression, that there was something happening in terms of us growing apart.”

Moriarty has since launched a Patreon page and a new YouTube channel titled “Colin’s Last Stand,” which will begin releasing content on April 3rd. “Colin’s Last Stand represents my innate desire to return to the roots of what I adore most — history and politics — where I can create thoughtful videos that strive to both entertain and inform.” Colin’s Last Stand accumulated $10,000 in monthly pledges in less than one hour, and at the time of writing this the currently monthly support pledges sit at over $39,000 per month, with over 6,000 patrons supporting Moriarty. Moriarty doesn’t believe the support will stay at that level, but simply thinks that people are “speaking loudly.”

Colin’s Last Stand will focus on American politics with two videos a week. For the time being, Moriarty is abandoning video game discussion even after over a decade in the industry. “I’m sure there will be a video about them here and there, if, say, one is politically or historically relevant,” Moriarty wrote in his Patreon’s frequently asked question portion, “If you’re looking for gaming content, this Patreon (and YouTube channel) isn’t for you.”

As for PS I Love You XOXO, Moriarty and Miller’s PlayStation show, the future is uncertain. Miller and Moriarty had hosted a PlayStation podcast together for over 300 episodes. “I don’t know what to do about PS I Love You XOXO,” Miller said in a tweet on the day of Moriarty’s resignation, “Should we retire it or keep going? I’d love your feedback.” Miller then listed a link to a forum thread which is now 34 pages long. “I’m going over all of it,” Miller said in a comment.

Kinda Funny has received continuous backlash for the way they handled the situation with Moriarty. In the last 30 days Kinda Funny has lost over 1,500 patrons and over $7,000 across both of their Patreon pages, as well as 8,000 subscribers across both YouTube channels. Most uploads average above a 50 percent dislike ratio.

“Opportunities are already popping up for me,” Moriarty said in a Facebook post. Last week he appeared on the Glenn Beck radio show as well as The Rubin Report, and just appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Being awake at 11:30p on a Saturday night doing research for Colin’s Last Stand makes me happy. History is all about telling great stories.